Apple has officially confirmed a total of 10 million iPhone 6 and 6 Plus sales during their initial weekend on sale. This is a new record for an iPhone launch, besting the 9 million iPhone 5s and 5c sales from that launch last year, and far outpacing the 5 million new iPhone 5 devices sold back in 2012.
Analyst estimates for launch weekend sales ranged from between 7-8 million from Bernstein’s Toni Sacconaghi, up to sales in the “low teens” of millions from Wells Fargo analyst Maynard Um. Many had pegged launch device numbers at around 10 million, citing supply constraints as a limiting factor. Apple’s iPhone 6 and 6 Plus also launched in one fewer country than did the iPhone 5 and 5s, and that country was a significant one for Apple: China, which has recently become one of its primary hardware revenue drivers.
Apple had previously announced a record-setting 4 million iPhone 6 and 6 Plus pre-orders during the first 24 hours of availability, after they originally went up for order on Friday, September 12. The previous announced, official pre-order record was 2 million, set by the iPhone 5 two years ago. The intense pre-order demand, paired with the unprecedented line sizes reported at most stores last Friday when the new iPhones officially went on sale explain the record-setting number of pre-orders, and Apple’s assurance that demand far exceeded supply during initial sales. Apple CEO Tim Cook said in the press release accompanying today’s announcement that sell-through records with this generation of iPhone were exceeded “by a larger margin” and that the company could have sold “many more iPhones with greater supply.”
By the end of this week, Apple intends to open up iPhone 6 and 6 Plus sales to 20 additional countries, including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. As far of a breakdown of which device is more in demand, Apple generally doesn’t provide a detailed mix when announcing new device numbers, but thus far analysts seem to agree the iPhone 6 is in greater demand, though the 6 Plus is likely in shorter supply.